MOUNT ALTON — The Runway Bar and Grill at the Bradford Regional Airport will close May 12.
Airport Manager Alicia Dankesreiter, who noted the closing at Wednesday’s meeting of the airport authority, said that advertising for a new operator has begun on social media and will include the print media. “Since the airport owns the restaurant, this would be a turnkey business transaction for the new lease,” she said.
Ryan Dach, director of stations for Southern Air Express, presented the airline report for March, which showed 325 outbound and 315 inbound passengers for an average of 12.3 passengers per day, making it the second busiest month in the last two years. Just one flight was cancelled, and that was due to weather.
Last month, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued an order granting an Essential Air Service subsidy for fiscal year 2019 in which the agency noted Bradford had not met the per passenger subsidy of $200 or below. This amount has been reduced from $289 in 2015 to the current $276. With this progress toward the $200 cap, the DOT granted the airport a waiver, permitting the EAS to continue for another year. “The DOT saw our passenger traffic increasing and our costs going down,” Dankesreiter said.
The EAS, administered by the DOT, provides federal subsidies to those airlines that serve minimally profitable or unprofitable markets.
In his report to the authority members, the airline’s Chief Operating Officer Mark Cestari spoke about this airline’s lobbying for changing the $200 per passenger cap because this amount was established in 1990 and therefore does not account for inflation.
While Cestari was pleased with the latest passenger counts at Bradford, he noted that SAE will continue efforts to increase the number of Bradford passengers who make connections to American Airlines at the Pittsburgh International Airport, which is now about 30 percent. Cestari said, “We’d like to see that number hit 50 percent,” he said.
With the airline interline agreement with American Airlines — both airlines are on Concourse B at Pittsburgh — passengers experience seamless connections, a single point check-in at the local airport for the entire trip and checked baggage delivered to the final destination.
A discussion was held about increasing passenger traffic at Bradford. Rob Huber, a McKean County representative on the authority, said, “We must continue to attract business travelers.”
Cestari said the airline will step up efforts to increase the number of passengers from Warren, now that the airport at Jamestown, N.Y. has lost its commercial air service.
Since Bradford has had difficulty in keeping a national brand of car rentals, Dankesreiter said the airport is investigating the possible purchase of a franchise of such a company. During the discussion, it was mentioned that many passengers arriving at Bradford request cars from national rental companies.
Dankesreiter said that if the airport were to secure a national company, it would not affect the car rentals now provided through Zook Motors of Kane. Dankesreiter said, “We’ve had wonderful service from Zook’s, and their cars are always in top shape.”
Also at the meeting, Brian Wolfel, engineering manager for GAI Consultants, reported on current projects. He said, “Designs for both the obstruction removal project on Runway 14 and the crack sealing and the marking of the parallel taxiway are underway and should be finished by the end of this month.”
These designs are then submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration. According to Wolfel, the airport authority could advertise for bids in May, with bid openings slated for June.
The authority approved the engineering agreement for the obstruction removal on Runway 14 with GAAI in the amount of $64,812.47.
In other business, the authority hired the accounting firm of Zelenkofske Axelrod LLC, to conduct the airport’s 2018 audit. The fee is $12,500.
The authority agreed to recommend that the McKean County commissioners appoint Marcie Lynch Ascetti to the airport authority, representing Elk County. She would replace an Elk County commissioner who has resigned.
